The True Meaning of Love
by Life-ofCrime
Summary: It's Brennan's turn to finally allow her feelings for Booth to surface. Since he is left in a world of confusion and vulnerability he turns to the woman who was beside him in the hospital bed. With Angela's help, Brennan learns the true meaning of love.
1. Thoughts

Title - The Meaning of Love  
Rating - Teen  
Chapter - One: Thoughts  
**Spoilers - The End in the Beginning  
**_xo ox xo ox xo ox xo ox xo ox_

_  
Once love is lost there is always a bit of angst filling the barriers of my heart. The nature of our love is pure, true, and everlasting if we both believe it can last. Until you came into my life I forgot what love is, you helped me gain it back, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for giving me a chance to feel it again. I will always treasure those things you said to me, forever speaking, from the bottom of my heart. I've learned about life and dealing with people because of you, and you know, I've grown to love you for giving me my life back. You taught me that love is transcendent and eternal, now it's my turn to teach you the things you've taught me. It's my turn to show you how much I love you, it's my turn to embrace the aspect of loving you, and it is time for me to show you what greatness the world can be. Loving you is worth every little fragment of my broken heart. Even if you are lost in time, I will help you by being patient. Even if love is lost, I will never stop loving you, not once, even if it hurts like hell, I won't give up until I find you. I love you..... Throughout my life you have always been my hero, my friend, my partner and the love of my life._

_A love that is strong will survive the wrath of fate. Love can survive the hideous encounters of the demonic world if you open yourself up and accept the truth. In search of that smile that makes the heart shine with happiness, and indulgence. Finding that glint of hope deep within your brown eyes should make my day, but, we've moved on, onto a place of forgotten glances and heartfelt hugs. That love will be lost for a while, until we find each other again, until we find out why we had fallen so hard for each other. You've taught me the basics of many different cultures, societies, feelings and so much more. Maybe that's why I love you so much, maybe that is why I was so profound in your credentials. There is so much that we've been through together that is probably why we are so close. You've given me my life back, maybe that's another reason why I am reasonable and understanding toward you. If I can tell you in a logical and intellectual way what you mean to me, I wouldn't really know how to respond. Knowing you, you would just wait for that special day when I tell you that I'm in love with you._

_But can you see it in my eyes? I hope you can because I have that feeling in my heart when I am looking into them. We connect that way, unlike many other partners who don't share as much affection as we do. Maybe, someday, beneath the horizon, our dreams will come true. We connect with our hearts, souls, and minds and in the way we show love that dwells in our eyes._

_It was more than a month ago when I was sitting on a hospital chair, waiting for you to wake up, wanting you to wake up. I was writing about how you can love someone, and the chance of taking risks. For a moment I glance up and see you breathing softly, with your eyes still glued shut. I wanted so badly to touch you and talk to you, but I couldn't bring myself to walk over to you. My heart sank into my blood, as it nearly broke when I didn't hear your voice. I miss you, and now I have admitted to myself that I'm in love with you. You told me with each moment is worth it in every way; I believe that now, because I may loose you._

_I could feel the tears in my eyes, along with my heart breaking away in silence. I looked down to my laptop again and began writing every single feeling I had about loving you._

_"'When you love someone, you open yourself up to suffering, that's the sad truth. Maybe they'll break your heart, maybe you'll break their heart and never be able to look at yourself in the same way. Those are the risks. That's the burden._

_Like wings, they have weight, we feel the weight on our backs, but they are a burden that lifts us, and allows us to fly.'"_

_The moment I had finished writing down the word fly, I caught a glance at the man I loved. The moment I realized I love you, it was too late. I knew maybe there was a chance that I could have told you I loved you, but it is probably lost with you now. If I were to loose someone else I loved, then I don't know what I'll do. Please don't let me down. I brought my eyes to my laptop screen again, scrutinizing what I just got finished writing. I hesitated, then I hit the delete button without regret. Sometimes there are moments between us, there are times when we cannot see the light in front of us, but I see it clearly now, better than I've ever seen it before._

_"--that dream,---" I heard Booth muttering something._

_"Booth?" I said softly, bringing the laptop from my lap._

_Before I knew it I made my way to you, I could feel the relief jolt out of me from hearing your voice. I missed hearing it. The moment I saw your face I could feel the world around me becoming lighter, fuller and more beautiful. I could feel the sun shining against my feet, and the moon tugging against my black veil. I could see within your chocolate brown eyes that something wasn't really right about you. But, I gently ignored it and began laughing heavenly with relief._

_"You're awake!" I said happily, "You've been in a coma for four days." My smile grew bigger with the love I was sharing within it._

_"It was so real...." You trailed off._

_"It wasn't." I said laughing softly to myself. "What took you so long?" I asked hoping to tell him I loved him there. But something got in the way of that ever happening._

_"Who are you?" You asked with utter confusion. At that moment my world fell apart, you looked at me with curiosity and innocence. You looked lost, while your handsome brown eyes didn't dare to play with mine; that is when I knew something was not right about you. You were restless, hurt and vulnerable, I knew that, because you'd just gotten out of your coma just a few minutes ago. But, why in the world don't you remember me?_

_You know Booth, it hurts to know that you don't remember me. When I had time to process the words "who are you?" my heart shattered into a billion tiny fragments. That was the moment I would never forget the utter confusion in your eyes, the terror within your features and your desire to speak. He was gone, just like that; the man I love is gone. But, even though he doesn't remember me, I will continue to fight my way to regain the man I once knew and love._

_My eyes never left yours, not even for a second more. My worst fears and emotions ran throughout my body like a lighting storm fighting along with the harsh rain droplets. I was very happy you were awake, but at the same time I was very sad that you didn't remember me. You didn't remember me. The thought of you not remembering me nearly broke every bone in my body._

_I looked down, studying the floor among me, wishing I could disappear right about now. Is it alright to be in love with someone? How is love worth it when all it does is cut you down and make you smaller? Why does it hurt so much that I want to cry for hours?_

_When the forces of evil come in balance with romance, it kills the human spirit. Maybe that's why I've decided that love isn't worth it anymore. 'Booth its Bones. You know who I am. I am your partner, your friend, possibly the woman you love. It's me, Bones…' While my eyes never left yours, the weight of the world rests on my shoulders, it's bearable, but not rational. Maybe love is all about taking risks and loosing those that you love, life has too many unbearable consequences in it. I was going to take love head on, but now, sadly, I am going to have to hide it once more. The risk of loosing you again is never going to happen._

_Just for a second or two I wanted so badly to run away, I wanted to crawl up into the corner and wish this wasn't happening to me again. Booth needs me though; he needs someone by his side to help him get through this. Even though I knew I will get hit in the face with a train or a fist, I wasn't going to leave him just lying there in the hospital bed alone and confused. I had to be strong. He would want me to, he'd want me to be strong, for him._

_"I'm Temperance, Booth." Deep down to the depth of my chest I could feel a sob filling the walls of it. I felt like crying, sooner than I wanted to in fact. "I'm a very good friend of yours." I smiled, wanting you to at least smile too, you were in my care now and I would not let you down, I just knew that much was true. "How do you feel right now?" I asked while my voice was beginning to trail off into a different world, filled with safe and bearable possibilities._

_Just as you take your last step into a new world, a world full of acceptations, dangers, lies, and love there is always time among life that will hurt you in the long run. Since meeting you I've learned a great amount about how to open myself up to others. I closed the walls of my heart so many times that it caused me to become socially awkward. In my own world I consume most of my time working in the lab. My emotions are shallow, lifeless, or possibly drained from the everlasting and cruel earth that breaks my heart every time. My happiness is shredded in this world; it is shaped with the line of small fragments that define all the specks of rain drops that fall on my skin. We had an emotional connection. We had a possible future together, now all we have is time._

_Booth is the only man who dared to become a part of me. Sure, I was a woman who was independent, bold and awkward, but he chose to stand by me. A man who was always there for me, one who opened my heart to joy and laughter. A man who is still here, and wrapped so dearly in my heart that I couldn't deny not loving him anymore. I just couldn't._

_I found myself wanting to be as far from him as possible, this moment between us was starting to worry me, to kill me. I wanted to run, run to protect myself, run to shed this pain I was feeling inside. I looked down with distressful agony while you looked at me with curiosity._

_"My head hurts right now." He said while chuckling softly to himself. I couldn't help but to laugh with him._

_"That's because you just got out of a coma." I explained slightly, carefully._

_Your brown eyes were shallow, lost and in deep thought. We looked at each other for a long time, not saying much to one another nor even wanting to look away from each other. I knew I loved you, but did you still love me? "I feel lost right now, I'm sorry if I upset you." You said sincerely._

_"Booth..." I felt hesitant maybe a little too hesitant. I wanted to tell him that everything was going to be alright and it was too, there was just too much pain I was bearing. "Everything is going to be okay." I said gently, while removing a piece of hair from the right side of my face._

_He was smiling so sweetly that I couldn't fight my smile back any longer. "Yeah?"_

_I nodded with relief, mixed in with sadness. "Yeah."  
__xo ox xo ox xo ox xo ox xo ox_

The sun arouse from the everlasting sky as it paced around the earth, the raindrops played with the wind as it swayed back and forth into the delicate sky. The trees bristled or veered slightly as the wind knocked the leaves off those tall enormous trees. The clouds were parting from each other as the gray sky overwhelmed the true nature of the earth's beauty.

There is a simple feeling that I long to find out about: I want to know how to love someone. I want to know 'how' to know I am in love, rather than arguing that it is just a chemical making process. Maybe Booth is right, maybe there is such a thing called love.

My typing became consistent as I tried to fit the missing pieces inside my heart. The cursor moved consistently while it blinked several times before processing everything that I was writing. I could feel my excitement and curiosity widen as I was writing about loving someone. Deep down I know what love was, I can feel it, I know how it feels to feel love. The only problem was I always kept using my 'logic' to avoid those feelings of enthrallment. It had been Booth who told me countless of times what love was, but I always ignored those conversations for my own good. Now, those conversations were going to haunt me until I went insane. It was my turn to be the one to show affection and show a side of myself that I never knew I had. It was time to open up to a man in whom I loved with all my heart.

"Sweetie, I just got done with the sketch on the victim." Angela said entering my office with a slight smile on her face. She was expressing empathy but very careful in the way she talked to me. We were working on a case involving a young boy who's body was found in a local swimming pool. Which I found gross because of all of the dead leaves and slime surrounding the body. I never really liked to work with Perotta, but it looked as if I was stuck with her until Booth regained his memory.

Before she sat down into the chair in front of my desk, she tried to capture my attention swiftly. "Sweetie? Did you hear me?" She questioned slightly as she tilted her head.

I looked up for a spit second and started typing again. I wasn't in the mood for girl talk or work talk right now, but Angela knew how to get me to talk to her though. She sat in the chair quickly and watched me until I glanced back at her again.

"What is it Ange?" I said harshly, but I didn't mean it to sound that way. I was getting slightly irritated with myself in every way possible. Angela's head tilted up in an offensive way which made me bite my lip with remorse. "I'm sorry for sounding a little distant Ange it's just-"

"I know sweetie." She said simply. She raised her hand and touched my arm, showing a slight understanding in the pain I was experiencing. "Sometimes you just have to open yourself up to someone so they can understand what you're feeling."

My eyes shined with a hint of sadness, pain and a large amount of determination lingering deep within them. I did feel lost without Booth being by my side, I did feel like there was a part of myself was missing without seeing him. Through four years of partnership, friendship and respect we've have grown together emotionally. We need each other in order to survive, I just need a little push, that's all.

_'He has to remember everything that we've gone through together, he has to remember those challenges we took to get where we were. We really never got along, but are now. He has to remember the kind of person he was, is. He is going to because I'm going to get him back, I'm going to get Booth back.'_

"What if I cannot mark those possibilities of making people understand what I am feeling if no one will be patient and listen to me." I said very hastily but directly. I tried with great effort to conceal my tears that were forming in my eyes.

Angela sat in her chair with a small smile on her face, she crossed her legs with forbearance and with empathy. "I'll listen to you Bren, and I am sure everyone else will. But you just have to promise me that you will try to express your emotions and allow yourself show them rather than avoiding them all the time." She said it gently so I wouldn't take it the wrong way.

I reached for a tissue by my computer and let some tears out of my eyes. I raised my head up, looking at the ceiling while making sure I wasn't going to go too far with my emotions. Angela watched me laugh softly to myself while making the effort to ignore those tears. "Bren, just let them go." she said calmly, grabbing a hold of my arm tighter. Our eyes met with an understanding as I finally let my tears go.

Angela must have known how I felt, she must have known how it felt to have someone you love not be able to know your true feelings for them.

She had known that the two were close, very close. She knew that the love that Brennan and Booth shared will spark again even if it meant having your heart being taken from your chest. She sighed while I muttered something. "Ange, what if he doesn't remember me?"

Angela looked at me seriously and reassuringly. "He will remember you if you just let him know you are there for him sweetie. He will know-" She stopped because she wanted Brennan to be the one that expressed her love toward Booth. She didn't want to be the one that told her herself. She knew Brennan was in love with Booth, so maybe she should just be there when she needed someone to talk to._ 'Bren should learn what love is by experience, not by me telling her that she does love him.'_

"Ange?" I said whipping away tears from my eyes with embarrassment.

Angela's head snapped up as her mouth became dry and her face became blank. "What?"

"He will know what?" I said obliviously. I sort of knew exactly what Angela was referring to. He will know you love him, if you are there for him.

Angela's eyes lit up with excitement as her mind was caught elsewhere. "Booth will know who you are the more you are there for him." She said that so gently that she could see that my eyes light up with a profound destiny, a destiny in getting the Booth I loved back.

I could feel my body become numb, my hands becoming shaky with an uncomfortable desire to let my feelings go out into the open. My lips and tongue became dry, as my tears were coming out so quickly that those feelings couldn't hide any longer. I have to let it out, have to let the pain go. I took a deep breath while my friend's hand was still on my arm firmly. My mind became lost with fear, loss, and sadness and with pity. The only thing I could do was to avoid the feeling of agony and discontent. Booth was still here, and with my help, he was going to remember his life before the events of his memory loss.

_'You love me, don't you?'_ I could hear Booth's voice playing like a song inside my head.

I closed my eyes and discarded those feelings of fear. "What does the victim look like Angela." I said as the walls of my heart were slowly coming down again.

Angela's mouth opened with indifference. _'Did she listen to a word I said??'_ She took in a deep, sharp breath and showed me the sketch of the latest victim.  
_xo ox xo ox xo ox xo ox xo ox_

**_Is anyone interested in this story?? I started writing it after the finale but I couldn't bring myself to finish it. The ending was just too much to take, it was heart breaking. So, I hope the majority of you guys like this story. This is not going to be a disappointment like the other one was. I promise. These are my person thoughts of how season five will be like. So, I hope you like it._** **_Reviews will be lovely. _**


	2. Right Here

The True Meaning of Love - Booth and Brennan  
Chapter **Two** - I'm Right Here  
**Spoilers are present  


* * *

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_First off I'd like to thank everyone who commented and reviewed. I'm very sorry I didn't get a chance to reply back to some of you but I am very happy you all liked it. So, here we go the second chapter is up, hope you all like it.  
_**xo xo xo**

I made my way to his apartment, feeling a bit nervous and queasy. I mean I shouldn't be nervous, because it's Booth, I am generally never this way when I go and see him. But lately with his absence around me at the lab, I have developed different feelings for him.

With each click from my heals I calculated the approximate rate of my heart beat. I could feel it racing, although a muscle didn't literally race, it just felt that way. My cheeks felt warm, my mouth felt dry and I could feel myself fearing that I'd leave with disappointment. When I reached for the door, I couldn't, I just couldn't bring myself to knock. I couldn't take another risk of crying again, I just couldn't. But, something inside of me wanted him, needed him in my life. That feeling of loneliness and loss seemed to get to me, eat me away, I couldn't fight with that. I couldn't fight with the idea of loving someone as much as I loved Booth. I did love him, didn't I?

I rested my head on the door slightly, wanting nothing better than to write my feelings out again on my laptop rather than talk about them to someone else. I wanted to express them, live them, say them and know them, instead of hiding them all of the time. I closed my eyes, as the tears fell loosely down my cheeks and onto my shirt. I lifted my hand up and touched my heart, then allowing the other to feel the wood beneath it. I wanted to give my heart to him, I just didn't know how to say it or act upon it.

I took in a deep breath before bringing my head from the door. My heart was moving rapidly, I felt my shoulders become numb and my arms became tight with nervousness. I didn't even knock on the door yet and I was becoming very uncomfortable about being here, in this hallway, going to talk to my best friend to whom I loved. It just didn't make any sense. He was my friend, my partner, we've worked together for four years fighting crimes and now I'm getting a little nervous about seeing him? I mean come on! I can do a lot better than this, my emotions are just bewildering me right now, just try to avoid them. I rolled my eyes obeying the simple order that was forged inside my mind, I brought my hand closer to the wood, my heart beat increased with each move I made.

I looked at the ceiling concealing every ounce of emotion that was in my mind. Booth wasn't a stranger to me nor was I to him and that was a fact, I have given my heart to him, I have trusted him to back me up, I knew who he was inside and out. We are friends, I never should feel nervous about seeing him, ever. I found my hand reaching for the door again, and this time I really did knock, not just role-playing it inside my head. Here we go Temperance, you've got some talking to do right now, just remember what Angela said. Well, not every detail because some of it was a little irrational but-

I was dumbfounded for a split second because I heard him at the door, unlocking it carefully, my ears were ringing and my mind was becoming lost in a trail of thought. I closed my eyes wanting to run, rather than talking to Booth about how much he meant to me or how much I needed him in my life. I just couldn't do that, run away I mean. Booth has never turned his back on me, so why do I want to even think about running away from this situation? Is it because I know I am in love with someone who doesn't remember me? Or is it the feeling of betrayal.

"Temperance!" I heard his voice, the voice that was reassuring, passionate, and kind, the man who I loved dearly.

Before I could open my eyes, I thought of something: Is loving someone worth it if I stood by him through his battles and helped him repair his memory? _No. I am still not convinced that's true._

I stood there for a brief second, before opening my eyes and looked at his chocolate brown ones, those eyes I wanted to look at every morning and every night. "Hey," I said warmly, trying to hold onto my emotions that were lingering within my eyes. "how are you doing?" I asked as I could have sworn my legs were wobbling with anxiety.

He smiled wide and chuckled. "I'm fine, but I have been seeing-"

"Booth is everything alright?" I said hoping he wasn't going to say he was hallucinating again.

"Hey, calm down alright, everything is okay," he said reassuringly.

Is love worth it. Is it worth this much pain. Is it going to hurt if I try to love him again. Is there going to be a tough road I have to take in order to reach to him again? I don't think I'm ready for that much pain again.

"Temperance, are_ you_ alright?" He asked staring at me with concern.

I shook my head with distress, while making my way to reality. I nodded, my final thought rested at the tip of my tongue. Is loving a man so much, worth loosing your logic? "I'm just a little-"

"Hesitant?" He chuckled again while finishing my sentence. "Just so you know, the man I was before, will come back, I promise you that. How about you come inside and help me eat some pie."

I smiled, knowing that this was Booth, the same man that I have fallen head over heals in love with. He broke my heart, but loving him is worth it, right? Loving him so much that you would do everything in your power to get him back, that was worth it? That might be what love is, gathering those moments that brought two people together in the first place. "I don't like pie very much Booth," I said simply brushing my hair from my eyes. He may not remember me very well, but the way he was acting, told me a completely different story.

"If you try it you may like it," He said tilting his head toward his living room, indicating that he wanted me to come and join him. I still didn't understand why he always tried to get me to eat pie with him, I just didn't understand.

I laughed while beginning to ask myself why he was so happy. His smile was warm, friendly and proved to me that Angela may be right about being there for him after all. I'm not really agreeing with her fully I'm just stating a simple fact. I shook my head with contentment while entering his apartment.

I watched him carefully as he moved toward the couch. I just stopped and looked at him for a while, without saying a word, I watched him take his seat on his cozy sofa. He did seem fine, not entirely, but really proving to himself that he will beat this.

He was handsome, even though his head had been shaved, he wore a light gray shirt that outlined his muscular structure. His smell filled my lungs with a scent that was familiar, new and adventurous to me. I didn't know what was wrong with the way I looked at him, but I sensed it was something new, fresh, a feeling that was out of my control.

He glanced my way, trying to figure out why I had been looking at him profoundly. He smiled, as he started to pat the sofa gently, wanting me to join him. I now knew that things are never going to be the same between us, because I felt differently about his presence than I did before. I felt very nervous around him, my heart beat increased when I smelled his scent, and when I looked into his eyes I saw his wisdom and genuine laughter within them.

"Come on," He said making a face, then patting the sofa harder this time. "I'm not going to bite." He said laughing softly to himself.

I bit my lip, pretending I didn't hear him, instantly I felt the walls of my heart rise. I could feel the weight of a thousand pounds being put on my shoulders. I took in a deep, shallow breath and made my way to him. I couldn't help but to smile at him. Remembering the time when he was in the hospital bed, with a bandage covering the top of his head, and the wires that veered in different directions as he was in his coma state. I waited for him to wake up, wanting him to wake up and now he hardly remembered who I was. Why was I here, why was I being so stubborn? I closed my eyes, listening to the soft sound of the wind before me.

It was like I was dreaming, I could see clearly everything I had been writing those days when he was in a coma. I was writing my feelings of what my life would be like being with Booth. I was happy and very content with my life as a bar owner. I was married and my husband was the person I loved in reality. He had been there for me every step of the way and I treasured him greatly and deeply for that. Why can't I be like Bren, why can't I have Booth in this lifetime or this reality? Is it because I'm scared to open myself to love again, or am I just too rational to admit it to myself? I don't know, I really don't!

"Temperance?" Booth said tilting his head on an angle to look at me again. I knew he was looking at me because he always does when I get a little uncomfortable. That's how Booth is, he always worries about my well being consequently.

I had tears in the rim of my eyes, I hated that I did, but I did. I just couldn't control those deep profound memories we shared together any longer. I couldn't just throw his existence behind me either. Why did he have to have that stupid tumor? Why did he have to forget who I was? W--Why did Booth have to forget me..... I just don't understand why he has to...... Right there, in the deepest levels of my heart, I let the final straw leak, I couldn't even bear to look at him anymore, without having to ask myself why I am in love with him. I wanted to yell at him to remember who I was, I wanted to shout and scream at him, but it wasn't rational nor was it his fault. If he would have chosen, he would have never have left me here confused, and in love.

At the moment I could feel my legs get wobbly again, my mouth got dry and my teeth gritted in my mouth. My heart beat increased along with my patience. I just couldn't get past the whole thought of loosing him again, ever. I shook my head with great agony, until I was in the arms of Seeley Booth.

"Booth..." I said shakily and emotionally. The moment he wrapped his arms around me, I could feel the touch of relief filling my body, as the hug overwhelmed me. Ever since he was released from the hospital he wasn't this affectionate toward me, but now he was.

Booth ran his fingers through my hair and shushed me silently, I could feel his strong hands grip on that small spot along side my spine. As I whimpered he closed his eyes and began to say something into my ear. "What's going on?" He asked gently.

I leaned my body into the hug, as I placed my head on his arm, like a puzzle finding a perfect fit. I could feel the anguish of tears running down my cheeks as I began to memorize his voice. His perfect voice, filled with strong, dominate perspective view of the world and how people live it, the voice that made me feel protected and loved. I slowly closed my eyes, smiling with contentment. "I-I feel very…" I hesitated, trying to describe the confusion I was experiencing.

"Shhhhh, just relax, alright?" He said pulling me tighter into his arms. I took in a shaky breath and finally the walls were coming to a halt.

"Booth, I am so confused," I began, carefully picking the words out of my mind.

"Confused about what?" He asked with an understanding.

I sobbed slightly and dug my head deeper in the rim of his shoulder. "Well," I had to stop for a second and rationalize what I was going to say, I mean I wanted to say that I feel very strongly for him, but I just didn't know how to say that. "about a lot of things that I-" I said starting to hesitate.

"You know what? I'll wait. When you're ready to tell me I'm gonna be right here, alright?" He said reassuringly, like he always did.

I smiled happily, "I know, you are always here." I could at least be there for him as well, right? Like Angela said? "Booth, I'm right here for you too, you know that right?"

Booth chuckled lightly, "Yeah, I know." He said rubbing my back trying to ease my emotions.

"So, what did you want to tell me?" I said stepping up, breaking the moment that made me want to melt.

He looked at me, while wiping away some of the remaining tears from my eyes. "Well it can wait-"

"No, Seeley, tell me what you had on your mind-" I said it quite_ quickly. Too quickly._

He laughed while shaking his head back and forth. "What?" I asked feeling slightly offended.

He smiled while containing his childish laughter, "It was cute the way you said that Temperance-" I frowned at the name Temperance. I preferred bones, but I was willing to wait. "Did I say something wrong?" He asked while rubbing his head with embarrassment.

I smiled as I blushed at the same time. He thinks I'm _cute_. "No, you didn't, just tell me what you've had on your mind."

There was a glimpse of something that made his eyes shine with a great deal of emotion. He brushed my hair from my eyes, while his eyes never left mine. I swallowed hard until my air had escaped my lungs, my heart beat increased while the light grew intense among us. I could have sworn on my life, that he did in fact remember who I was.

"Well," He said taking the first gasp of air that filled his lungs with pride, his eyes settled on the blue part of mine, while mine still stared into a part of his. I could feel my cheeks becoming the color of strawberries just by the look he was giving me. He licked his lips while settling his hand to catch the corner of my chin. He rubbed it for several second until he coped with reality again. "I had a dream that you were saying that you weren't good enough to be in a family and I told you there is more than one kind of family. And, there was this other dream when we were skating on the ice together having fun. But you know, it just didn't seem real to me,"

My smile only grew bigger and more loving with each minute that went by. "It was real, and you know what, it all will come back to you eventually."

I could see the shift of pure happiness change into pure fear in a matter of three seconds. "I just want to remember you. In my dreams you seemed like you really cared about me and knew who I was inside and out." He tried to look deeper into my eyes but I hid the true desire of what I felt about him. "I want to remember you so badly it hurts-I" This wasn't the first time when I saw Booth look so broken, I knew he was going to regain those memories of who he once was, even if it was going to break my heart all over again.

"Booth, it's alright." I said calmly, and reassuringly. I brought my hand up and touched his warm face. At the moment my eyes became warm and gentle, just how I wanted them to appear. "It will take time Booth, to regain all of those memories." I smiled and couldn't help but to ask. "What else did you remember?"

His eyes widened to that question, I could sense embarrassment filling the walls of his face, the color of his eyes becoming darker and more hostile than ever. "Those two were the only two I remember at the moment." He lied.

I smiled but didn't want to push any more of his buttons. I knew he was hiding somethings from me, but I wanted him to be alright and share them with me when he was ready. "Booth, I want you to know, I am going to be right here by your side to help you regain those memories, alright?"

Booth smiled and kissed the top of my forehead. "Thanks for everything you've done for me Temperance." He said sincerely before taking me into his arms again.

"You have no idea how much you mean to me." I muttered to myself hoping he wouldn't hear me. I smiled as he wrapped his arms around my back, I did too but a little harder to let him know I'd always be there for him. I took in a deep breath and knew Booth was going to be treasured in my heart, forever.

_When you love someone you open yourself up to suffering, that's the sad truth. _Maybe that is the first step into my realization of what love really was. I know it sounds irrational, but I find it to be true on many levels. He showed me that throughout our partnership, now I can show that to him this time. The problem was, was I actually going to allow myself to, or was I going to push those feelings away?  
**ox ox ox**

_So, what do you think is going to happen next, huh? Well, stay tune and find out what Brennan tells Angela about her conversation with Booth. And will Brennan actually allow herself to open up emotionally and show it?_


	3. Love Him

_The True Meaning of Love - Brennan and Booth  
Chapter three - **Love Him  
Spoilers - Season four along with finale.  
** ** ** ****_

"So, you're telling me your lost without him, you can't seem to hold your focus at work and your emotions are showing it." Angela said while waving her hands in the air. Her eyes were filled with frustration as she sat on the edge of my desk trying to find out why I had been unhappy for at least an hour. I didn't want to tell her I saw Booth, I didn't even want to tell her that he had some memories back, it hurt too much to discuss them with her. Angela's ears were catching fire, her mouth became dry and her left hand had found its permanent spot on her hip.

"Showing what?" I asked, looking at her with a sense of nervousness. I sort of knew where she was going to discuss, but I found myself confused instead. She was already frustrated by the way I was looking at her; confused and innocent, like always.

Angela rolled her eyes and said simply, but yet bitterly, so she could "grasp" her logic. "You're in love with him and you care about him beyond what other partners do, sweetie." She said with slight victory in her voice.

"I just said in an objective worth that I miss him and care about him. That doesn't mean I love him." I said rather icy.

Angela closed her eyes, wanting to scream "You love him, can you just do us all a favor and admit it already!" Her eyes became sore with distress and her forbearance became unbelievably limited.

"What?" I said, trying to question her body language; which I wasn't very good at reading…

She remained calm, but rather annoyed with my behavior. I studied her questioningly, while she gave me a sour grimace. "It's called love Brennan!" Angela whispered I passed her and headed toward the door. "I'm just telling you the truth!"

I glared at her, ready to strangle her with her words. After a good eye roll I continued walking from my office and made my way to the platform. I could feel the tears filling my eyelids while I tried to distance myself from my agony.

Instantly I heard her heels clicking on the hard ground and I forced myself to look eye to eye with her. A few tears were falling down my cheek.

"Angela, I've already told you, I'm not in love with him. We're just partners, friends. That's all. Besides love is an irrational chemical process that-" I didn't want to listen to myself blather about love being a chemical process, I didn't even want to say it was pointless anymore. I had my chance with Booth and I ruined it myself. I felt something, I needed something, but I hadn't grasped it yet. I wanted to block her voice from my head, not allowing it to enter. She was driving me crazy about loving Booth, and everything else. My irritation ran so deep that I closed my eyes and exhaled very, very slowly.

"Yeah, I've heard that lame explanation thousands of times sweetie. It gets old after a while." Especially when those two love birds look at each other. Ugh, these two are so made for each other.

Angela put her hands on her hips and eyed her friend with annoyance. Her brow was up as far as it would go, her breathing increased and her voice still remained calm. "You can say you're partners all you want, you can lie to yourself that you aren't in love with him but sweetie-"

"Angela! Please!" I raised my voice a little, showing my aggravation. I really didn't care if everyone in the Jeffersonian was looking. Right now, I wanted to get this case solved and go home. But, you know my friend Angela; she'll keep pushing my buttons until I told her the truth.

She sounded so much like Booth. I frowned a little while picking up the skull with my right hand. I was ready to look at the fractures on the mandible when she took it from me and put it back on the table again.

I glared at her for a second and picked the skull back up, ignoring her gesture. I began focusing back on the skull of the latest victim; a soccer mom who was found in a local dumpster.

"Sweetie," I heard Angela's voice from behind me. I didn't want to look into her eyes right away. I wanted to focus on the case, not my feelings. I needed Booth though, as of now I just couldn't even look at a damn bone without wanting to cry. "You need to go home and get some rest." She said rubbing my back until I put the skull back on the examination table.

"Ange, I need to find out what happened to Sally Bennie." I said bitterly. I could feel my anger bewilder my senses, my heart was slowly failing to maintain some control and my eyes were betraying my logic.

Angela took a step back and withdrew her hand from by back. I could imagine raw emotion forming on her face. I couldn't blame her for taking a few steps back, or maybe hitting me in the back of my head

"Why are you becoming distant with me?" She asked crossing her arms and putting her left foot out.

I turned around and looked at her with remorse. I could feel the rage inside of me begin to subside.

I closed my eyes and exhaled the harshness from my voice. "I'm sorry," I said quietly while opening my eyes, hoping she would forgive my outburst. "I saw Booth about an hour ago and I still feel…..a little" before I could finish my sentence Angela hugged me.

"How did it go?" She asked rubbing my back again, easing back my frustration and fear.

I looked at the ceiling, trying to compartmentalize my emotions and words. "Familiar." I said slowly and I could feel my heart breaking a little.

Angela released me, while watching my eyes solemnly. "Do you mean he remembered you?" She may have sounded excited but I don't really know.

I could feel my throat tighten when she said the word "remembered"

"Not entirely." I said sincerely. I rolled my eyes, searching for a better word. "Partially."

Angela laughed friendlily, and then looked at me sincerely. "What do you mean?"

I looked the other way, fearing that Angela might see my emotional baggage right in front of her. She probably knew by now that I was frightened by the fact that he didn't remember me, but what she didn't know was that I already knew I loved him.

"Bren, allow those feelings to come out naturally." She said while placing a hand on my back. "Allow others to see and hear them."

I turned to my friend, allowing a few tears to glide down my cheeks and land tenderly down my chin. I wiped them away and began to feel uncomfortable about this discussion. "Those feelings are meaningless Angela, I mean I...I- I" I had to stop rationalizing my feelings and let them flow out naturally, like she said. I looked at her with deep emotion and tried to reason what I was feeling. My eyes were feeling swollen, my legs felt wobbly and I could tell my heartbeats were becoming irregular. "He is my friend, you know. We share private things and learn about each other respectively. I just....I just..."

"You miss him so much." Angela said with a sad her own tears filling the corner of her eyes.

I nodded while focusing my attention back to the skull in front of me. I was feeling lost without him, I was so desperate in getting him back that I was beginning to loose a part of myself; my rational state of mind. In that moment, I realized that life is cruel if you don't do anything that you fear. Experiencing certain things usually destroy the human heart, making it bearable against all odds. I've accepted that, I've learned to deal with it. But, the problem was this, was loving someone worth such great happiness and despair? Were broken people allowed to love again?

I looked up to Angela who was still looking at me what appeared to be sympathy. I smiled weakly and sighed with agony. "Ange, could I ask you something?" I asked nervously.

Angela smiled and moved closer to me. "Sure."

I watched her for a minute or two before allowing my question to exit my heart and lips freely. "Let's say, rationally," I said raising my brow. Fear aroused my senses, the feeling of betrayal hit my chest, and my lungs felt like water had entered them, only to drown myself in my own misery.

"Bren, are you alright?" She asked while putting her hand on my shoulder.

"I'm fine." I said battling my emotions that ranged from fear to nervousness. "If someone says that love is transcendent and eternal then can it survive the harshest levels of fate? Can love still be there and stay there forever even if someone doesn't remember who that person is?" There I said it Angela.

"I'm sorry, can you rephrase that?" She asked looking at me with confusion.

I rolled my eyes and restated the question. "Can love survive this world if fate has possibly destroyed it?" I stopped to gather my emotions. "Even if someone were to loose their memory, can they still love the person they did before?"

Angela looked at me with shock, her hand fell from my arm as her mouth hung down an inch from her face. When she did close her mouth her smile was huge and filled with pride. "Sweetie, love can survive everyday struggles and everyday challenges." She said placing one hand on the table and one on her hip. You can sense that she was happy because of the large grin that was displayed.

"When you love someone, you do things for them you normally never do with anyone else, you open yourself freely to that person, you look at that person differently then you look at other people." She smiled while lowering her voice. "If that love is true, it can survive almost anything."

"Anything?"

Angela looked up and tried to come up with another clever way of putting it. "Yep. Love is strong if you allow it to flow out naturally and freely, love is pure and romantic." She sighed and said one last thing that made my heart leap into my throat. "Sweetie, when you love someone, you're willing to anything in your power to get that person back. If you love him, just show it."

I swallowed nervously, she was right. I was in love with Booth.

I smiled sweetly when Angela nodded with excitement. She understood exactly what I meant as well as anything else. She knew I loved him.

"Can I just ask you a question?" She asked raising her brow, still with that large smile on her face.

"Certainly." I said challenging her. I dared her to ask again if I loved him.

"Are you going to allow this love to fade or are you going to accept it and try to show that person that you love him?" She said it so softly it sounded like my heart singing it, like role-play. Over and over again and again until my head exploded.

My face fell, the moment she asked that question. Before she had even asked it I already rationalized it into a pile of dirt and bones. The skull was fractured (the brain was lost and it's own knowledge), the spine was severed (the question had broken her heart) and the breastbone seemed to have a hole in it. (her heart shattered). Really? That's love? I thought cynically.

Booth was a wonderful man, father, FBI agent, friend and partner. He's had my back many times and I am thankful I have someone like him in my life. I just wish he remembered me, I wanted him to be beside me and I wanted him to be with me.

I shook my head with discontentment and decided to flush those feelings for now and focus on the bones in front of me. 'Bones', my nickname, I've always hated that name to begin with but now it's grown on me, it's like my new identity that Booth has given me. I shook my head again and again until I got to a point of having a headache. I could feel my heart beating inside my ears, pouring out the distress of loosing such a good friend. At the moment of confusion and distress I felt the dead parts of the wall building itself back up again.

"Sweetie?"

"What if he doesn't remember me Angela! I mean I was just realizing I loved him and now it's too late! He'll never love me the way he did! He will never want to be with such a selfish and cold person like myself." I couldn't seem to stop, it was like a virus, destroying everything in its path.

"Every day I have wondered what it would be like to be with him, but he had to build that stupid wall. I have lost my chance at finally telling him that I do love him. I feel so lost and confused....." I was slowly loosing my way of thinking rationally. I was becoming someone completely different than Dr. Brennan; I was becoming Temperance. An emotional woman who was in love with fate.

I broke down while leaning my hands on the examining table uneasily. I already knew everyone was watching and looking at me with empathy. I couldn't control my emotions anymore, I needed the person who has saved me from myself, I needed Booth. I needed him now, before I lost all of my inner strength.

"Bren-" Angela said trying to hush my soft cries that tore at every inch of my heart. I didn't want to look at her, or even talk to her right now. She already did enough, now it was time to leave me alone.

"Angela I think you should leave her alone," Hodgins said walking over to her and grabbing her arm gently.

"Sweetie I didn't mean to push you so hard, I'm sorry." She said while fighting Hodgins' hand.

He took her into her arms and looked into her eyes gravely. "She's been through enough Angie, just leave her alone. When she's ready, she'll talk to you."

Angela swallowed nervously wanting to talk to her friend some more, possibly telling her it would be alright.

"Okay?"

She nodded and began crying in Hodgins embrace.

Before I knew it I was finding myself giving in to my friends. I'd said almost everything I have ever felt about him, I needed to say more. "I do love..... him..... he just....."

"Doesn't remember you..." Booth said finishing my sentence.

My heart froze while my stomach knotted and tugged at the core of my chest. I couldn't believe he was there, in the Jeffersonian, possibly behind me and hearing my outburst of loving him. Instantly, my heart was pounding in my ears, my lungs became stiff and my cheeks burned with embarrassment. I began to panic, making the world I was beginning to know vanish before my vary eyes. My vision became dull and my senses became stiff with irritation.

**(third person.)**

***  
**

"Brennan?" Angela said touching her back gently.  
_  
No answer.  
_  
"Dr. Brennan." Hodgins said poking his head into her personal space to see her expression.

_Still nothing._

"Is she alright Hodgins?" Cam and Angela said at the exact time.

He saw a bit of panic in her eyes, her face was flushed while her ears seemed to be blocking all contact with the outside world. Her eyes were the size of saucers while her facial expression remained blank, or possibly linked with fear. Her mouth was shut tightly, her eyes were closing while she bit her lip with embarrassment filling her rosy cheeks.

Booth watched her with guilt. He knew her actions resolved into him not remembering who she was, or remembering everything that was private between them. Obviously they were closer then he believed before hand. They shared something greater than most partners did. They were in love.

"Bren, come on, lets get out of here." Booth said approaching her slowly. His approach was natural to him, almost like a second nature.

She didn't say a word. She didn't want to look at him, nor anyone else in the room. She closed her eyes and felt the strong desire to allow him to hold her into his arms. She was lost without him. She couldn't focus on her job without him. She couldn't function without him. That's love. Love isn't shortly lived if you keep working on it. Love is facing fate and beating it head on. The only person who won't allow love is someone who puts it into a box never believing its worth being true.

Booth felt a tug of memory flood his brain. It was an energy that was so powerful that he had to close his eyes so he could process them. He knew that she cared about him, he knew she felt strongly about him, but he never thought she loved him. It touched his heart, but confused his brain. She actually allowed herself to say that she was in love with him.  
_  
But um ... you're the only FBI Agent I wanna work with.  
You would never let me do that, you are way too rational.  
You all want to lose yourself in another person. You believe that love is transcendent and eternal. I want to believe that too.  
Hey, you will. I promise. Someday, you will.  
My dad drank.  
My foster parents locked me in a trunk of a car for two days when I broke a dish.  
If it weren't for my grandfather I would have killed myself.  
I'm the one who dragged you out of pure science and ... pulled you into murder solving.  
Well as I recall I had to force you to take me into the field.  
There's someone for everyone, someone.... you're meant to spend the rest of your life with.  
Jasper.  
Brainy Smurf.  
Gravedigger.  
You're not Dr. Brennan today you're Temperance.  
I'm never gonna make you fall. I'm always here._

"I'm always here." he repeated out loud so she would hear him.

So, what do you guys think? Only two more chapters to go......

Thanks for all of the comments and reviews. I appreciate every one of them.


	4. Identity

Title: The True Meaning of Love

Chapter - Four: Identity

Pairing: Brennan/Booth  
_vv xx vv oo _

"I'm always here," he repeated while he watched Brennan. He smiled, then he touched her shoulder trying to help her easing her emotions. It was like a lighting bolt that struck him, the moment he touched her shoulder he felt different.. "I'll never let you fall."

Brennan shook her head, trying to deal with her confession and her memories of him. Their time together, their dinners, their confessions, their talks and their pride. Loving someone was that burden, she tried to avoid feeling that way, but it had gotten to her. She looked down, trying to study the bones in front of her, trying to think of something else rather than her feelings.

The only thing she could do about now was to flee the scene, but, his hand made all of her fears vanish into thin air. She sighed at Booth's "comment" as the tears were demanding to let be free. She was loosing control and her heart was demanding to be let out from its cage.. She knew there was something there, but avoided it for the sake of being hurt again.

"Not now Booth…." she said uneasily.

By now she couldn't take it anymore, she couldn't take the embarrassment, the confession, nor the amnesia any longer. She had to push him away a little before she did it pertinently.

Booth nodded while grabbing her by the arm and pulling her into his arms. He didn't want to force her, just allow her to calm down and relax a little. He watched the way everyone seemed to look at them, some with pity, some with encouragement and some with sadness.

He closed his eyes, trying to think of a way of getting her to open up to him to him. He sighed softly, knowing that this chance won't last long. She stood on the platform in Booth's arms, her head was buried in his chest while he stroked her back a few times. She was stunned, embarrassed and she had no other option than to hide in the dark. Her face was pale, her heart was broken and the weight of the world rested on her shoulders.

Since he had no knowledge of who she it made it hard to function, breathe and work. She closed her eyes, listening to the soft beating of his heart and the sound of her own against it. When his arms tighten around her she felt safe again, she felt alive again. His embrace seemed to warm her soul and devour her cynicism.

She didn't want to become comfortable with him just knowing that she loved him, she wanted to feel it for herself. All her life she wanted to know how it felt to love another human being. She wanted to tell him she loved him for a long time, but since her family left, she decided that no one could ever hear those words come out of her mouth again. She hesitated, while breaking away from his hug.

"Booth.... please just leave me alone." She said quietly, trying to exit his embrace. She wanted nothing to do with anyone here; especially Angela. She knew better than anyone here that she had been through enough already. She had gone through enough drama these last few weeks to have him hear from an outburst that she loved him

"But-" He said displaying his sad puppy face.

The only things she could do was to look at him with tears in her eyes. "Booth-" She said too emotionally. "just go."

He studied her for a matter of time, not grasping everything that had just happened. His eyes lingered on hers for a while trying to decipher her thoughts and feelings.

With no luck, he sighed with a great amount of distress and left the platform. With the lights around him and the people around the room watching with sympathy, the FBI agent left with his arms in his pockets and his head pinned to the ground. All he wanted was her, all of her, but to know that she did in fact love him made it easier to fall in love with her all over again.

'You know, everything happens eventually.

There is more than one kind of family,

There is someone for everyone,

How hard is it to say "I love you" to someone,

Nothin's going to change between you and me,'

You know she loves you, right? Then go for it, open up and say it. Make her feel that old part of you, try to gain that love and friendship back. Come on Seel, you can do it.

Booth ran his hands through his hair, trying very hard to grasp his thoughts and feelings. His head was hurting, spinning and becoming filled with distress and utter confusion.

She loved him, but he wasn't the same person anymore, he was someone different. The way she acted proved it; she didn't love the "new" him, or did she? For a man that rarely cried, did. He cried for he used to be, he cried for hurting her the way he did. The tears fell down his cheeks as he sat down on the edge of the stairs, watching the rain fall beneath his feet.

The animals dashed throughout the field as the thunder stroked the air. He rested his elbows on his knees putting his hands through his hair with frustration. He hated himself about now and his actions provided enough reasoning behind that.

You love someone, you open yourself to suffering, that's the sad truth. They may break your heart, you may break their heart and never be able to look at yourself in the same way.

"Am I good enough," he began to say aloud to himself. "why does she keep pushing me away, I'm trying, doesn't she know that? Sometimes I guess I have to encourage her that everything is going to be alright, but-"

"I know you're trying." A quiet voice said behind him. It was that person he wanted to awake with every morning, it was that person he wanted so badly it hurt.

The voice made him smile widely, he knew that voice, he really knew that voice. He shook his head knowing that she would come out here and sit beside him. He knew she could never abandon him when he needed her, most importantly, he knew she loved him. He put his elbows down and straightened his position.

With a huge grin on his face he knew she would sit with him and talk things through like they would have before. She stared at him for a few seconds, trying to avoid her emotional state. She closed her eyes wishing she would have told him she loved him in a different way, with different scenery and a better approach. Now, by the time she could approach him, she gathered herself, not rationally, but lovingly.

"I knew you'd come sooner or later." He said chuckling to himself.

She couldn't help but to smile, she laughed gently and made her way down the stairs feeling her heart tug and tear at the insides of her chest. She was nervous and he knew she was. 'Why am I here? Why am I scared of this moment? To be honest, I really do love him it's just-' No, she couldn't just rationalize the feelings like examining bones anymore.

She had to feel it rather than hiding it or keeping her thoughts to herself. Was she a doctor or was she Temperance. The problem was she hated to be her real self. She hated it with every fiber in her being, in her definition, Temperance was weak which meant she already neglected that name. Bones was someone different because she was both of them. Scientist and heart. Heart and Scientist. Like Booth said, "It's a lot of heart, Bones."

"Yeah, me too." she said laughing along with him.

He turned around to find his partner with rosy red cheeks and puffy eyes indicating that she'd been crying. Her bright blue eyes glimmered with a hit of agony while she shook her head with distress. He knew the best way to comfort her was to hug her, tell her it would be alright; but he had another task in hand. He had to admit, he loved this woman for her passion for truth, her wisdom and prudence and of course her look at heart. He loved her, there was no more denying it now, he couldn't stand not being with her any longer.

Finally, after four years of waiting, Seeley Booth walked up to the woman he loved and took her into his arms. He never forgot all of those times when they fought about little things, he never forget all of those times when he thought he'd lost her and most importantly, he wanted to forget that stupid line he built to keep them apart.

He closed his eyes, allowing his partner to cry in his arms, allowing her to feel those intense emotions she had been experiencing rather than hiding them. Ever since he thought he would never see her again his love for her only grew stronger, his arms grew tighter around her waist while she did the same. Neither wanted to let go of such a strong bond that they shared, neither wanted to feel that sense of loss again.

There they were partners, best friends, role models, co-workers, crime solvers, heroes and so much more. They depended on each other in order to survive, they depended on each other in order to heal and most importantly, they depended on each other to show what it means to be loved and what it means to love. That's the true meaning of love. Knowing that there is always someone that loves and understands you for you who you are.

If their love is strong enough than their love can withstand even the deadliest wrath of fate. If it's true, it can withstand almost anything. When you love someone, you give your heart to that person, you love them beyond anything that defines logic and intelligence. Love shapes the greatest forms of friendship, with that said, Booth has always known that. From the bottom of his heart, he loves her, but is he willing to admit it to himself? Or to Brennan?

"I'm sorry you're going through this. I wish-"

"Booth, just-" She said feeling her tears falling down her cheeks. He closed his eyes, wanting nothing better than to switch places with her.

"Please let me finish Tempe." Booth said it so quietly that she smiled. She shifted her body, leaning onto his shoulder like a puzzle. She wanted to memorize his scent, wanted to always be this close to him no matter what situation they were in, but what she wanted didn't matter. Only what he wanted mattered to her.

"Sorry, please go on." She said simply, giving him encouragement. He closed his eyes only to gather his emotions that were killing him, broke him down into feeling guilty.

"I wish," he continued before she could interrupt him. "you know I wish I could have switched places with you. You don't deserve to go though this again." Her eyes soared open as her heart leaped inside her chest.

"What?" She asked with a huge smile on her face. Instantly, she felt the despair vanishing before her vary eyes, filling the missing gaps of her heart with happiness.

Does he remember me!? Does he?!

He smiled as she tore from his embrace. She knew what he meant, she just wanted to dare herself to believe that he remembered her altogether. Not just small memories, but everything. Booth was a wonderful human being, he deserves the best life can offer, he is a wonderful father, he's a wonderful friend and he is the man that she was in love with.

"Booth!?" She said laughing with relief. "What do you mean?"

"Well you know Bren, you have been through enough these last few weeks." He said, praying to god that she was referring to.

Her face fell, along with her happiness. She was wrong, he didn't remember her he was just saying that to make her feel better. She shook her head, trying to remain calm.

"What!" he said surprised by her change of heart. "Did I say something wrong?" He raised his voice playfully, trying to avoid calling her, her given name. Brennan looked down, making her way to sit on the edge of the stair.

She blocked out all of the noises only to focus on her own thoughts and her own emotions. She seemed saddened by her excitement, her relief and her outburst. She avoided the situation, but she couldn't seem to control her actions.

She buried her face in her hands, as the rain had irritated her ability to think. She'd always loved the rain, it was peaceful, new and it never had to think how harsh it fell, nor the weight on its shoulders. It was free, the burdens it carried were about soaring into the sky and fleeing when ever it felt like.

Booth watched her, wanting her to be happy, but his presence was disturbing that willingness to be happy. He put his hands in his pockets and kicked a small rock he'd found lying alone in a corner. He felt like that small rock at the moment, small and helpless. He wished he knew what she was feeling, he wished he could just take that pain away; but he didn't remember how to. She was miserable and he felt like an ass because he was causing her that pain.

He closed his eyes, wanting to remember everything he used to know about her, everything he used to feel and everything he had experienced alongside his best friend.

She was a woman with great intelligence and had an IQ of a genius. She loved daffodils, she hated pie because she didn't like her fruit cooked, she loved dolphin, she loved working with him; she was partner. He knew her parents and brother had abandoned her at the age of 15, he'd known that she only wanted to work with him, he'd known that he kissed her before, but sadly, only once. He had known that she was crucial about religion and love.

He had known everything about her, so how could he forget her? Just how could he forget someone so caring and passionate? Booth knew from the bottom of his heart who she was, she wasn't Bren, Tempe, or Temperance. She was.... Bones. Bones.

The sun shined some light among the partners with grace and patience. The clouds followed each other like dogs following the leader, the moments between two people would never die off, the chemistry between them was too powerful to withstand the harsh reality of fate. Booth dragged his hands out of his pockets and opened his eyes. For their forbearing memories they shared, Booth moved closer to his shaken partner, feeling like a new man.

His head was up in the air with pride as the sun shined upon him, the air brushed past his cheeks as he felt the nervousness bewilder him altogether. He made his way toward her, hoping that they would become who they once were or what they were becoming. His emotions puzzled him only slightly, but he knew this woman better than anyone on this planet. She was his friend, close friend, which made his smile grow larger with love.

"Hey." Booth said wanting her to look at him, wanting her to know that he loved her too.

She still didn't look at him even though she knew he was so close to her. She smiled, wanting to be in his arms about now. Something wasn't right though, she needed to say something before that happening.

"Are you going to say something, Bren?" He asked with a huge smile on his face. He brought his hand and placed it on her back, so gently that it felt like a butterfly. He raised his eyebrow and began to rub her back in tiny circles until she would look at him. Brennan slowly removed her hands from her face.

Her cheeks were bright pink and her mouth was open just slightly, she turned to face him, very slowly until their faces barely touched. She was right, maybe he did remember who she was.

"Maybe." She said stubbornly. Bones. Not Bren.

"What is that suppose to mean?" He asked slightly offended. She smiled friendly and looked at him with a glimmer of hope. "Well, I was going to ask you if-"

"I remembered you." He said trying to hide his excitement. His serious expression made it difficult to read, but it suited her uneasily.

She looked down feeling the distress filling the barriers of her caged heart. She nodded while rubbing her eyes trying to get rid of the annoying tears filling the edges of her cheeks.

"You know what, try me." he said seriously.

"What? I don't know what you mean." She said with confusion lingering on her face.

"I know that look. You're being cynical."

"Whoa! I am not Booth!" She said defensively. Why could he always read her like a book?

Booth looked at her with wonderment, his gaze became warm and reassuring; like it always was. "Just ask me something, try my knowledge."

He knew she was torn between wanting to believe him and not wanting to believe him. Did he really and truly remember who she was? Or was he teasing her about it? Her cynicism showed that to be true. She didn't trust herself enough to believe him fully. She had beaten herself up about what happened to him, because she pushed him too hard. She shook her head with discontentment and with sadness.

Since her parents had left her, she promised herself she would never feel any empathy for another human being. But, bluntly, she failed to retain that logic and misconduct. She wanted to hide, run, but the one how had saved her was the one who had become the closest to her heart. He was a heart person and she was a logical person. Opposites, but similar at heart.

Feeling slightly irritated, she looked at him quickly and tried her best to stay calm. She wasn't strong at the moment and he sort of knew that. He watched her carefully as she just looked at him with fear.

"I am not cynical Booth, I'm just feeling...." She shook her head, trying to avoid her emotions; she couldn't seem to though, they were barking at her with distress.

His eyes rested gently on hers, his strong fingers still caressed on her back and his emotions surfacing underneath his willingness to wait any longer. "You can tell me, I know you can."

She laughed softly while grasping his other hand. It was natural now and she seemed to love the idea of it. "Lets wait until you heal fully, then we can talk about this Booth."

He tried to smile, but his mind went beyond that. He took in a deep cleansing breath that caused his heart to beat irregularly, his face fell slightly as his mouth became dry. He watched her slightly fully aware of the few tears falling down her face. He hated seeing her like this, but he was willing to risk everything to make her feel better. "Hey, come on, you know me better than that,"

Booth couldn't take another tear to fall down her face, so, he moved his body closer to hers. Now that their thighs were touching, her heart nearly broke away with sadness, her mind was filled with agony and her control was in the wastebasket.

"I know you're hurting its killing me to see you like this. I hate myself for causing that pain,"

Brennan shot him an emotional glare and shook her head. "You didn't cause it..."

"I did." He said seriously. He removed his hand from her back and rose to the side of her face. "I wish I could change places with you, you don't deserve to go through this kind of pain again. I'm tired of having to see you cry because I'm not the same person I was before. But, you know what, I'm right here, all of me, right here..."

Brennan remained speechless; her mind was filtered with emotions she couldn't even identify for herself even though she was going to try to hide them anyway. She remained calm, rational and ready to hear what else he was going to say. Her eyelids became heavy with tears and her self control was becoming limited.

"Booth, I am the one that caused it." she mumbled softly, she could hear the swift rain drops that landed on the grass, sidewalks and stairs.

Booth looked at her with complete shocked. His expression was blank, restless and beyond confused. "Bren, what happened to me wasn't your fault." At that exact moment, his brown eyes glittered and were locked with her elegant blue ones that fitted with his perfectly. "My brain tumor isn't your fault-"

Before he could finish his sentence she finished if for him. "Booth, it was my actions that caused this to happen. My selfish acts created frustration that led to-"

He couldn't help himself anymore, he had to say it. "Bones!"

There was silence among them as the rain drops began hitting the land harder. With each emotion that lingered in the air, the intense connection was going to be silenced altogether. Both partners watched each other for a long amount of time before even thinking of how they were going to talk about this discussion.

_vv oo xx_

_Sorry for the delay, I hope you guys liked it. This is the second to last chapter, so I hope you enjoy. Thanks for all of the reviews, I really appreciate your feedback! _


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